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Five
“To our first nightas roommates,” Emma said, toasting us both. I’d gotten everything unpacked, and Emma had helped me add my decorative touches to the common spaces, which I hadn’t asked for, but that she insisted on.
“Roommates, best friends, and wives,” I said. That was a lot.
“Roommates, best friends, and wives,” she repeated. We clinked our seltzer bottles together and reclined on the couch.
“A lot has happened in a short time,” I said. “And we still have Lara’s wedding extravaganza.”
“I know. That’s going to be a lot. It’s a good thing I love her, because I wouldn’t go through all this for just anyone,” Emma said. I agreed.
“I’d be your maid of honor. You know, for the next wedding. The real wedding.”
“I don’t know if I want to get married. I mean, again, you know. Sober and all that,” she said.
“Really?” I couldn’t remember her ever saying anything like this. To be fair, I couldn’t remember the last time we’d talked about marriage or anything related. I knew every single thing about her, but not this, for some reason.
“Yeah. I don’t know.”
“I can’t really picture it either.” That had never been my thing. I hadn’t planned an entire destination wedding to Belize down to the rhinestone flowers on my dress. Sure, I’d wondered about weddings and marriage and kids, but I wasn’t sure about anything.
“Anyway, I’ve got one wife already, so I’m not thinking about another one.” She smiled and I couldn’t help but smile back.
My wife. For now.
“It’s so quiet here,” I said a while later. We’d devoured the cake and I was full and content. I hadn’t realized that in my old place I hadn’t really ever been able to fully relax. I’d always been stressed and annoyed and now it was like I could breathe freely.
Emma’s hands wove through my hair and I closed my eyes.
“Are you saying I’m boring?” she said behind me.
“No. I’m saying this is nice. It’s a relief.” Almost as if this was meant to be.
“Good. I’ve wanted to ask you to move in for a while, but I wasn’t sure how. I know that seems silly, since we share everything else. I don’t know.” I looked at her over my shoulder.
“I wanted to live with you too, but I knew I couldn’t afford it.” I was being blunt, but whatever. She knew how much money I didn’t make.
“It’s okay. I’ve got money.” I knew she’d made decent money at her old job, but she was in school now and not working. I knew she wanted to get a part time job at some point, but was concentrating on getting a foothold in school first.
“I’m going to get another job, I promise. I had that interview and I’m just waiting to hear back. The pay would be great there. Plus, I’m working on my negotiating skills so I can start out with better pay,” I said. I mean, I was going to try to do that. I’d only really practiced what I would say in front of a mirror. Things were totally different when I was in front of a boss or potential boss. At least I had a lot of incentive now to negotiate for more money. I couldn’t be a financial burden on Emma.
“Hey, it’s okay.” She tucked her arm around me and pulled me back into her chest. “We’ve got this. Just you and me against the world.”
“You and me,” I said, yawning. It had been a long day, but I didn’t want to go to bed just yet. I had a new book that I’d been saving for a few days to read and it was calling me.
“Do you mind if I read?” I asked.
“No. Why would I? This is your house. You can do whatever you want.” I grinned at her.
“Does that mean I can rearrange the towels in the linen closet?” Her eyes narrowed.
“You can do whatever you wantexceptthat.” I huffed and got up to grab my tablet. When I came back, she had her phone out.
“What are you looking at?” I said, peering over her shoulder.
“If you’re gonna read, I’m going to read as well.” We’d done this countless times before. Emma and I had spent so much time together that silence was always fine.
